(12) United States Patent (10) Patent ... - Rocket Fuel Pump€¦ · “Pneumatic Pistonless Pump With Accumulator”. Each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference

US007611333B1

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.2 US 7,611,333 B1 Harrington (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 3, 2009

(54) MULTIPLE CHAMBER PUMP AND METHOD 4,678,040 A 7/ 1987 McLaughlin et al.

(76) I s M H 1293 B1 Sky 5,092,743 A 3/1992 Dietrich nventor: teven . arrington, ue

Dr" Cardiff’ CA (Us) 92007 5,148,945 A 9/1992 GeatZ 5,230,361 A * 7/1993 Carr et a1. ................. .. 137/416

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term ofthis 5,655,938 A * 8/1997 Huguenin et al. ........... .. 441/29

patent is extended or adjusted under 35 5,832,948 A 11/1993 schell

U-S-C- 154(1)) by 558 days- 5,927,653 A * 7/1999 Mueller et al. ......... .. 244/1713

(21) Appl NO_ 11/139 437 6,095,759 A 8/2000 Breslin . .. ,

(22) Filed: May 27, 2005

Related US. Application Data (Continued)

(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/404,036, OTHER PUBLICATIONS ?led on Mar. 31, 2003, noW Pat. No. 7,007,456.

Felix Godwin: “Exploring the Solar System”: Plenum Press, 1960 (60) Provisional application No. 60/378,217, ?led on May (pp, 2142)

7, 2002, provisional application No. 60/404,530, ?led on Aug. 20, 2002. (Continued)

(51) Int CL Primary ExamineriDevon C Kramer F041? 1/06 (200601) Assistant ExamineriDnyanesh Kasture

(52) US. Cl. ...................... .. 417/142; 417/120; 417/143 57 ABSTRACT (58) Field ofClassi?cation Search ............... .. 417/118, ( )

417/120, 130,131,142, 143; l37/206i209, 137/564.5; 73/3225; 441/21, 29; 114/123; _ _ _ _

277/438; 60/259 Disclosed is a pneumatlcally poWered hlgh-pressure and See application ?le for complete search history. lightweight ?uid PumP- The Pump is useful for Pumping fuel

_ for liquid rocket engines and for transferring liquids from one (56) References Clted space vehicle to another. During operation of the pump, liquid

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

1,306,762 A 6/1919 Higginson 1,457,055 A * 5/1923 Brewington ............. .. 73/3225

1,469,647 A * 10/1923 Ruegger .... .. 73/3225

1,628,608 A * 5/1927 Newhouse ................ .. 417/125

3,213,804 A 10/1965 Sobey 3,576,153 A * 4/1971 Doutt ........................ .. 92/244

3,680,981 A * 8/1972 Wagner .................... .. 417/388

3,708,705 A * 1/1973 Tinlin ........... .. 310/52

3,797,264 A * 3/1974 Thibault et a1. . .... .. 62/555

3,945,539 A * 3/1976 Sossong ................ .. 222/3865

4,141,533 A * 2/1979 Goodman .................. .. 251/58

4,239,054 A 12/1980 Van Rijn

is drained from a tank into a pump chamber and the chamber is then pressurized to deliver ?uid. The chamber is then re?lled from the main tank. An auxiliary chamber supplies fuel While the main chamber is being ?lled, thereby a steady stream is delivered from the pump. The auxiliary chamber is re?lled from the tank While the main chamber is delivering ?uid. In order to transfer ?uid from the tank to the pump chamber, the pressure in the pump chamber is maintained at a pressure higher than the vapor pressure of the ?uid being pumped but loWer than the pressure in the tank.

24 Claims, 16 Drawing Sheets

US 7,611,333 B1 Page 2

US. PATENT DOCUMENTS

6,200,104 B1 3/2001 6,213,348 B1 4/2001 6,314,978 B1 11/2001 6,368,068 B1 * 4/2002 6,644,930 B1 11/2003 6,914,531 B1 * 7/2005

Park Le Grouyellec Lanning et a1. Corlew et a1. ............. .. 417/120

Kuismanen Young ...................... .. 340/606

2004/0148925 A1* 8/2004 Knight ...................... .. 60/259

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Andrew Case: “Arocket Archives”, Apr. 23, 2002 (http://blastzone. com/arocket/listarchivesmessage.asp?idi93173.

* cited by examiner

US. Patent Nov. 3, 2009 Sheet 4 0f 16 US 7,611,333 B1

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US. Patent Nov. 3 2009 Sheet 14 0f 16

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US 7,611,333 B1 1

MULTIPLE CHAMBER PUMP AND METHOD

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation-In-Part applica tion (“CIP”) of US. patent application Ser. No. 10/404,036, ?led on Mar. 31, 2003, entitled “Dual Chamber Pump and Method,” Which claims the bene?t of US. Provisional Appli cation Ser. No. 60/378,217 ?led on May 7, 2002 and entitled “Lightweight Pistonless Pump,” and US. Provisional Appli cation Ser. No. 60/404,530 ?led onAug. 20, 2002 and entitled “Pneumatic Pistonless Pump With Accumulator”. Each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in full in this document.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure relates to pumps With multiple chambers and, more particularly, pumps With overlapping ?ll and dis pense cycles for use in reduced absolute pressure environ ments.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Liquid fuel rocket engines require a supply of propellant at 300-8000 psi at a high ?oW rate and at a steady pressure. The propellant may be supplied from a tank at the required pres sure or a pump may be used to raise the pressure of a propel lant stored at loW pressure. If a pump is used, it must be of minimum Weight and have high reliability.

The mo st important factors for rocket performance are the type of propellant used and the empty or burnout mass of the rocket Which contains a given amount of propellant. For any given propellant, the performance of a rocket depends of the Weight of the propellant tanks, the Weight of the engine and the Weight of the pumps, if required. Each of these compo nents must be as light as possible for optimum performance. Typically, there are tWo options for supplying propellant to the rocket engine, one Way is to pressurize the tanks and the other Way is to use a turbopump. PressuriZing the tanks, hoWever, requires heavy tanks made from exotic and expen sive high strength materials Which reduce rocket performance because of their Weight and increase the costs. If turbopumps are utiliZed, complexity of the rocket increases, and thus the reliability is decreased, and the costs are increased. Most all large liquid rockets from the V2 to the Atlas V’s use a tur bopump to supply fuel to the engine. In these rockets, the turbopump is one of the most complex components of the rocket system. Turbopumps typically rotate at 30,000-100, 000 RPM to develop the poWer required for the rocket.

The cost of turbopumps re?ect the large amount of engi neering design and testing efforts that are required for tur bopumps. Also, the manufacturing of turbopumps require precision machining of the exotic alloys. The failure of a turbopump usually results in an explosion, Which can be disastrous to the rocket if the pump is ?lled With liquid oxy gen. All of these items drive up the cost of a turbopumps. In addition, turbopumps cannot be run to the point of the fuel tank being empty due to problems With overspeeding and cavitation, both of Which may also cause catastrophic failure. Therefore, a substantial amount of fuel must be left in the tank of the rocket that uses a turbopump, Which increases the burnout Weight of the rocket. A turbopump also requires a feW seconds to startup, and during the startup time the rocket performance is not optimal. Furthermore, a rocket system Which uses a turbopump generally burns a signi?cant portion

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2 of the propellant in the gas generator Which drives the tur bopump, thereby decreasing the performance of the rocket vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed is a pneumatically poWered high-pressure and lightWeight ?uid pump. The pump is useful for pumping fuel for liquid rocket engines and for transferring liquids from one space vehicle to another. During operation of the pump, liquid is drained from a tank into a pump chamber and the chamber is then pressuriZed to deliver ?uid. The chamber is then re?lled from the main tank. An auxiliary chamber supplies fuel While the main chamber is being ?lled, thereby a steady stream is delivered from the pump. The auxiliary chamber is re?lled from the tank While the main chamber is delivering ?uid. In order to transfer ?uid from the tank to the pump chamber, the pressure in the pump chamber is maintained at a pressure higher than the vapor pressure of the ?uid being pumped but loWer than the pressure in the tank. One aspect of the disclosure includes a pneumatically

driven multiple chamber pump that includes a primary cham ber With a primary chamber volume capacity, an auxiliary chamber With an auxiliary chamber volume capacity, an out let coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber, and a vent system coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber, and con?gured to maintain at least a pre determined pressure Within each of the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber. The vent system can include, for example, a check valve

having a spring con?gured to bias the check valve in a closed position coupled to at least one of the primary chamber or the auxiliary chamber, and con?gured to maintain the predeter mined pressure in the chamber above a vapor pressure of ?uid contained Within the chamber, or a semi-sealed ?oat in at least one of the primary chamber or the auxiliary chamber and con?gured to maintain the predetermined pressure in the chamber above a vapor pressure of a ?uid contained Within the chamber, or a toggle actuated valve positioned to control ?oW in at least one of a pressure or vent line for at least one of the primary chamber or the auxiliary chamber.

In another aspect, the disclosure includes a pneumatically driven multiple chamber pump that includes a primary cham ber With a primary chamber volume capacity and having a primary chamber inlet con?gured to alloW ?uid to enter the primary chamber, an auxiliary chamber With an auxiliary chamber volume capacity and having an auxiliary chamber inlet con?gured to alloW ?uid to enter the auxiliary chamber, an outlet coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber, the primary chamber con?gured to dispense ?uid through the outlet during at least a portion of time that ?uid enters the auxiliary chamber ?lls and the auxiliary chamber con?gured to dispense ?uid through the outlet during at least a portion of time that ?uid enters the primary chamber, a pressurization system coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber and con?gured to pressuriZe the pri mary chamber prior to the time the primary chamber dis penses ?uid through the outlet and con?gured to pressuriZe the auxiliary chamber prior to the time the auxiliary chamber dispenses ?uid through the outlet, and a vent system coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber, and con ?gured to maintain at least a predetermined pressure equal to or greater than a vapor pressure of the ?uid Within each of the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber.

In yet another aspect, the disclosure includes a pneumati cally driven multiple chamber pump that includes a storage tank positioned internal of a rocket system, a rocket thrust

US 7,611,333 B1 3

chamber, a primary chamber comprising an inlet valve con ?gured to accept ?uid from the storage tank during a primary ?ll portion of a pump cycle, and an outlet valve con?gured to dispense ?uid from the primary chamber to the rocket thrust chamber during a primary dispense portion of the pump cycle, an auxiliary chamber comprising an inlet valve con?g ured to accept ?uid from the storage tank during an auxiliary ?ll portion of the pump cycle that occurs at least partially during the primary dispense portion, and an outlet valve con ?gured to dispense ?uid from the auxiliary chamber to the rocket thrust chamber during an auxiliary dispense portion of the pump cycle that occurs at least partially during the pri mary ?ll portion, a pressurization system coupled to the pri mary chamber and the auxiliary chamber and con?gured to pressurize the primary chamber prior to the primary dispense portion of the pump cycle and con?gured to pressurize the auxiliary chamber prior to the auxiliary dispense portion of the pump cycle, and a vent system coupled to the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber, and con?gured to vent the primary chamber and auxiliary chamber folloWing the respective dispense portions of the pump cycle While main taining at least a predetermined pressure equal to or greater than a vapor pressure of the ?uid Within each of the primary chamber and the auxiliary chamber.

In another aspect of the disclosure a multiple chamber pump for use in reduced pressure environments has a means to maintain the absolute pressure of the liquid at a level above its vapor pressure so as to prevent boiling or vaporization of the ?uid being pumped.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention Will noW be described in greater detail With reference to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying draWings, in Which like elements bear like reference numerals, and Wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional vieW of a multiple chamber pump installed in a tank according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional vieW of an alternative embodi ment of a multiple chamber pump With an alternate valve arrangement according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional vieW of an alternative embodi ment of a multiple chamber pump With the chambers gener ally stacked serially in relation With each other;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional vieW of the multiple chamber pump shoWing the main chamber dispensing ?uid While the auxiliary chamber is being ?lled;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional vieW of the multiple chamber pump shoWing both chambers dispensing ?uid as the main chamber is loW on ?uid;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional vieW of the multiple chamber pump shoWing the auxiliary chamber dispensing ?uid While the main chamber is being ?lled;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional vieW of the multiple chamber pump shoWing both chambers dispensing ?uid after the main chamber has been ?lled and pressurized With ?uid;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional vieW of an alternative embodi ment of a multiple chamber pump With an alternate gas valve and tubing arrangement according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 9A-9B are cross sectional vieWs of an alternative embodiment of a multiple chamber pump With a ?oat Which separates the gas from the ?uid according to the present disclosure;

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4 FIG. 10 is a cross sectional vieW of an alternative embodi

ment of a multiple chamber pump With spring loaded ?oat Which separates the gas from the ?uid according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional vieW of an alternative embodi ment of a multiple chamber pump With spherical chambers and multiple pressurize and vent port locations according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is an isometric vieW, a top vieW and a cross sec tional vieW of an air gas separator according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic of a series and parallel valve arrangement according to the present disclosure; and,

FIG. 14 is a cross sectional vieW of a lightWeight ?oat according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a cross sectional vieW of a rocket thrust chamber With pump exhaust injection according to the present disclo sure;

FIG. 16 is a cross sectional vieW of a spring loaded back pressure valve according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a cross sectional vieW of a pump With a helium

supply tank according to the present disclosure; FIG. 18 is a cross sectional vieW of a toggle actuated valve

according to the present disclosure; FIG. 19 is a cross sectional vieW of a rocket system accord

ing to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed is a pneumatically poWered high-pressure and lightweight ?uid pump. The pump is useful for pumping fuel for liquid rocket engines and for pumping liquids from one space vehicle to another. During operation of the pump, liquid is drained from a tank into a pump chamber and the chamber is then pressurized to deliver ?uid. The chamber is then re?lled from the main tank. An auxiliary chamber supplies fuel While the main chamber is being ?lled, thereby a steady stream is delivered from the pump. The auxiliary chamber is re?lled from the tank While the main chamber is delivering ?uid. The design results in substantial Weight savings over a system in Which the main tank is pressurized or a system With tWo pump chambers of similar size. The auxiliary chamber of the present disclosure has a smaller capacity than the main chamber. The main chamber is designed to be ?lled much faster than it is emptied, therefore the smaller auxiliary cham ber supplies ?uid only during the time While the larger main chamber is being ?lled.

Referring to FIG. 1, a cross sectional vieW of the multiple chamber pump according to the disclosure is shoWn installed internal of a storage tank 6. The multiple chamber pump is generally shoWn in the ?gures as a dual chamber pump for the sake of brevity of description. HoWever, the multiple chamber pump is not limited to having only tWo chambers, but may have three or more chambers, and may be con?gured as one or more multiple chamber pumps operating independently or in combination. The dual chamber pump embodiment shoWn in FIG. 1

includes a main chamber 26 With one or more check valves 32. Multiple check valves distributed symmetrically about axis of the pump chamber axis alloW the pump to be ?lled With a minimum of sWirling. The main chamber 26 also has at least one diffuser 30 to sloW the ?uid as it ?oWs from storage tank 6, through check valve 32 into the main chamber 26. An outer ?oat 24 is used to monitor the ?uid level Within the main chamber 26 and to determine When the main chamber 26 has been ?lled With ?uid and to determine When the ?uid has been

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent ... - Rocket Fuel Pump€¦ · “Pneumatic Pistonless Pump With Accumulator”. Each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference

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